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shoham's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.25
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexism, Police brutality, Murder, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Slavery, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Body shaming, Misogyny, Animal death, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Grief
Minor: Child death, Death, Drug use, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Alcohol, and Mental illness
justagir1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Slavery, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Hate crime, Death, Classism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Alcohol
joensign's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Rape, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Confinement, and Body shaming
Moderate: Gaslighting, Police brutality, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Body horror, Classism, and Pedophilia
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Murder, and Drug use
livlostinstereo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
What a fantastic book. I struggled to put it down. Once again, Alice Hoffman delivers a masterclass on writing characters that feel so vividly real. Coralie and Eddie are wonderfully well-rounded characters.
The ONLY reason this isn't a 5 from me is because the ending felt slightly rushed. That's not to say it wasn't good - it just felt a bit rushed in comparison to the pace of the rest of the book.
But nothing will stop me from rereading this with the same love I have reread The Rules of Magic with time and time again.
The historical fiction of this story is truly immersive and just makes you want to read and learn more about the various events referenced.
If you read anything this winter, please let it be this.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Death, Gaslighting, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, and Self harm
Moderate: Torture, Police brutality, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Grief
meg_elyse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Death, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Police brutality, Self harm, Body shaming, Classism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Medical content
Moderate: Antisemitism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Genocide, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Child death
Minor: Murder, Kidnapping, and Pedophilia
michelle_leitheoir's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
That being said, I'm not sure this book is exactly what I expected it to be, which started off really disappointing - since Practical Magic was very firmly magical realism, I was hoping this would be as well. How cool would it be to have a sideshow attraction on Coney Island where the sideshows were ACTUALLY mermaids, wolfmen, butterfly girls, etc.? When I realized this was firmly historical fiction with no magical realism whatsoever, it was kind of a bitter pill to swallow, one that took me most of the book to get past. But once I did, I became very attached to all our main players. Even Eddie, who for most of the book struck me as the type of callused bitter jerk I don't care about at all.
A fair amount of world building has to go into writing good historical fiction. Not the same type of world building fantasy authors do, but crafting history in such a way that it becomes as alive and realistic and immersive as the times your modern audience is living in. Hoffman clearly has a talent for that, which made connecting to it as a modern audience SUPER easy. It even sent me to do some searching on the historicity behind some of the events in the book, which is proof that it engaged my mind. And isn't that what great fiction is supposed to do?
So if you like thoroughly researched historical fiction with characters that you truly feel for, this is a great read. It's dark and hard to read sometimes. There is a lot of various kinds of abuse. But it's a beautiful story.
Moderate: Emotional abuse